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Lock it or lose it - December 1st, 2017

The Cornwall Community Police Service is Participating in Province-wide Lock It OR Lose It Campaign to Prevent Thefts of Vehicle and Valuables Left in Plain View This Holiday Season

Cornwall, ON – The Cornwall Community Police Service (CCPS) is reminding motorists and passengers to Lock it OR Lose it when it comes to their vehicles and valuables as part of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police’s (OACP) annual Lock It OR Lose It campaign (#LockItOrLoseIt).

Ontario police services are launching this year’s Lock It or Lose It campaign during the holiday season because it’s easy to be distracted and leave vehicles unlocked or valuables in plain sight during the holiday hustle-and-bustle. CCPS will use Lock It or Lose It notices throughout the year as part of our on-going crime prevention efforts.

During the Lock It OR Lose It campaign, police officers, auxiliary officers, and crime prevention personnel examine parked vehicles to confirm they are locked and that no valuables have been left in plain view. They place a small notice on vehicles checked indicating what safety precautions were neglected and offer simple prevention tips for drivers to protect their vehicles against theft. The notices also congratulate drivers who have secured their vehicle.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, on average, a car is stolen every seven minutes in Canada.

While the rate of stolen vehicles has seen a significant drop during the past ten years, automobile thefts continue to cost Canadians close to $1 billion annually according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. This can be broken down to $542 million for insurers to fix or replace stolen vehicles, $250 million in police, health care and court system costs, and the rest for correctional services.

Motorists and passengers are also urged not to keep personal documents such as vehicle ownership, liability pink slips, credit card invoices, or other documents containing personal information in their vehicles. Identity thieves are looking for such documents so they can assume identities, secure credit card accounts, lease vehicles for export, and even take out a mortgage against victims’ properties without their knowledge.